A blog of the Missouri Department of Agriculture

June 22, 2010

Elderberry: It's Good for You, Good for the Farm

Terry Durham, owner of Eridu Farms of Hartsburg, leads a tour of elderberry fields during the 2010 Comprehensive Elderberry Workshop. The program, funded by a grant from the Missouri Department of Agriculture, introduced small-farm producers to the potential of elderberry juice production.

People who look to folk medicine and herbal remedies for their health products say that elderberry is good for what ails you. Your great-grandmother may have brewed elderberry tea to fight colds and fevers, while Granddad might have enjoyed a sip of elderberry wine from time to time (for medicinal purposes only, of course). Rich in antioxidants, elderberry juice today brings up to $20 per pint at health food stores.

Judging by the success of an elderberry farming workshop held last week, growing the Missouri native plant may also be good for producers looking for a high return from a small acreage. The Comprehensive Elderberry Workshop and Tour 2010 brought elderberry producers and would-be growers to mid-Missouri for two days of presentations, demonstrations and onsite farm tours.

The workshop, funded by a specialty crops grant through the Missouri Department of Agriculture and USDA, attracted more than 100 participants who learned about propagation, planting, pruning, harvesting and marketing elderberry from some of the most successful producers of this up-and-coming farm crop. Attendees traveled from as far away as Maine, Oregon, Arizona and Florida for the event, held at Lincoln University’s Carver Research Farm and at Eridu Farms of Hartsburg, Missouri’s largest elderberry producer.

“Missouri is the place to learn about elderberries,” says Terry Durham, owner of Eridu Farms and the president of Missouri River Hills Elderberry Producers, a grower’s co-op currently being developed to market elderberry juice. “We’re the ones putting the money into research and developing the market for elderberries. Missouri will soon be the center for elderberry.”

Left: John Avery of Missouri State University explains propagation techniques during the elderberry workshop.

Workshop attendees toured Durham’s farm and saw 22 acres of elderberry plants in production. Durham leads the effort to form a cooperative for elderberry producers. With 20 members expressing interest, the group hopes to have 80 acres in production by the end of the year and increase to 150 acres next year. Although Durham sees "nutraceuticals" - marketing juice for its health benefits - as having the highest return for producers, he says he would like to see at least five Missouri wineries making elderberry wine in the next five years.

Elderberry is often seen in Missouri fields and along roadsides. It produces a white flower early in the season and later bears small purple berries. The berries of the plant are used to make juice, jams and jellies, wines and spirits, tea and extracts.